HACK: How To Transform Ground Nuts Into ‘Breadcrumbs’

One favorite food group among those who eat a Standard American Diet is deep-fried breaded anything. Chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, chicken wings, breaded mushrooms, breaded zucchini, breaded pickles…the list goes on. If you’re really craving chicken fingers, or that’s all your child seems to want to eat, then you do have options that don’t include using bread crumbs.

Nuts, within moderation, are fine. Of course, you’ll want to watch your intake because of their high Omega 6 content, and don’t buy pre-ground nut flours. You don’t know how long they’ve been sitting there, and the chances of them having gone rancid already are pretty high. Buy whole nuts and grind them yourself; it’s very simple to do in a food processor. Just don’t over-process or you’ll end up with nut butter!

For a basic coating, grind them until they are of a fine consistency, dump them out on a plate or shallow bowl, stir in some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and away you go. You can also mix in dried spices of your choice.

To get the coating to stick, dip your meat or whatever it is you’re coating into a beaten egg first, then into the nut mixture.

Types Of Nuts

The type of nuts you use depends on your preferences. Almond is the fallback choice for many people, but there are many more nuts you can use. Macadamia actually has a higher Omega 3 content than other nuts and is a mild flavor; it might be interesting to try that out. They are more expensive than almonds, of course, so you wouldn’t want to use them every time, but it might be a nice treat. Mix them in with almonds and see how that works.

How To Make It:

Dump the almond flour, garlic powder, Italian herbs mixture, salt, and pepper into a large zipper bag. Give it a taste and see if you need to add anything. Wash the mushrooms well; while they are still damp, put them into the bag with the seasonings and shake it around until they are all evenly coated.

Carefully place your mushrooms into an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes; turn them once or twice to make sure all the nut crumbs get cooked in the oil. The mushrooms should be tender when done cooking.

Serve with some heated marinara sauce spooned over top; if you do dairy, you can top it all with some cheese for some added oomph.

These are also great served with homemade ranch dressing.

Imagine how these would taste tossed in some gluten-free pasta or zucchini “pasta” noodles with some extra marinara sauce!

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